


Nascency

by FluffyHeretic



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7062913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyHeretic/pseuds/FluffyHeretic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hawks in a college AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Frequencies

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at a multi-chapter fic. I have no clue what the upload schedule is going to be like so please bear with me. I'll try not to let it go on too long without updates though. Tags and such are subject to change as the story progresses, including the rating (though I'm starting with Teen just to make the transition less jarring). If a chapter causes the rating to rise, I'll probably put some sort of warning on it, just in case. I might also try to make it so chapters that have a higher rating than others are skippable, or even just upload them separately? But that may or may not work out.

Isa’s fingers tapped on his phone nervously. If there was one thing he hated more than meeting new people, it was meeting them over the phone. He may not have been good at reading expressions, but at least seeing them in person meant he could make guesses. He wasn't even granted that much over a call.

It was so tempting to stop the ring blaring in his ears by just hanging up and putting it off, but he reminded himself that this was going to end up happening no matter what. Better to get it out of the way.

He took slow breaths to prepare himself, but that didn’t keep his stomach from dropping when an unfamiliar voice greeted him cheerily on the other end. The urge to hit the red button to end the call was stronger than ever, but that that would only come back to bite him later.

Instead, he willed himself to speak. “Hello, is this-” he glanced down at the papers on the table, double-checking to be sure he got the name right, “-Kawara Ryuuji?”

“Yep, that’s me! Whatcha need?”

Well he sure seemed to be in a good mood. Isa wondered if he was always so upbeat. Was that going to be an issue? He sighed inwardly and hoped not.  “I’m Isa Souma, your roommate. I thought--"

“Oh! We should get to know each other then, yeah? It’d be so weird to meet the day we move in together, wouldn’t it?”

“... Right. So that’s why I’m calling.”

“Cool!”

Isa paused. “Mhm.” What did he say then? He couldn’t just react to something like that, he had to bring in something new. Right, of course, he should probably ask-

“Sooo uhh…” Ryuuji clicked his tongue. “How do you feel about parties?”

Isa grimaced immediately, and did his best to keep his complete and utter disdain out of his voice as he answered, “I would greatly prefer that we don’t host parties in our dorm. Please.”

“Aw, okay! I get it. I’ll go somewhere else for those!”

As much ire in Isa as Ryuuji was earning, that was relieving to hear. He sounded like a high-energy guy, which was unfortunate, but it also seemed he was willing to compromise. It was far too early to tell, of course, but so far he seemed to be a kind enough soul. Isa relished in this good sign.

They should keep talking, though. The more they knew about each other in advance, the better. Ryuuji took the lead and continued with another question, “I stay up pretty late sometimes. Actually a lot, heh. But usually I just study, so I’ll be quiet! Do you think it’ll still be a problem, though?”

Isa’s mouth actually twitched towards a smile for a moment. “No, I usually study late too. That shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Oh good! Maybe we can be study buddies, then!”

“Maybe.” Isa wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He preferred to do his work alone… but maybe it would be helpful to have someone around that he got along with, for the few times he got stuck.

“What else is there… Uh, what did you say on the questionnaire, Isa?”

“I wanted to be paired with another honors student.”

“Well I am one! So that works out!”

Isa nodded to himself. Getting what he asked for, at least in one regard, was a pleasant feeling.

“Do you smoke?”

Now Isa shuddered. “No. I can’t stand smoke.”

“Okay. I don’t do it, so that’s alright.”

“Good.”

Not too bad so far. Not ideal, but he knew he wasn’t getting that anyway.

Ryuuji continued, “I think that’s all I have to ask. Is there anything I should know about you?”

Isa chewed on his lip as he thought it over. “I guess just don’t be too loud. I like it quiet, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“Are you messy?”

Too much silence. “Sometimes.”

Isa sighed, and Ryuuji reacted immediately, “I’ll try not to be, though! And if I don’t clean up after myself, you’ll get full permission to chew me out.”

“As long as you make an effort.” That was the most he could ask for, he supposed. It was far better than someone who didn’t care at all and just did whatever they wanted. Ryuuji was clearly making an effort here, and Isa supposed he did appreciate that.

Was there anything else? After a moment or two of silence as Isa considered what about him Ryuuji should know, something did come to mind. It felt weird to mention - he shouldn’t have to warn anyone of this, should he? - but it was more for his own benefit than Ryuuji’s. “And I’m gay, by the way. I know some people might take issue with that, so..."

The cheery voice didn’t skip a beat. “No problem-o! That’s totally fine with me. And I’m not the kind of guy who’s only okay with it if you hide it or some bull like that, okay? Don't worry about a thing!”

Thank goodness. Ryuuji hadn’t seemed like the kind of guy to have a problem with that, but it was good to have it confirmed. “Alright, thank you. That’s all I can think of for the moment, then.”

“Okay Isa! We should talk more before the year starts. The more familiar we become, the easier living together will be right off the bat, right?”

“Of course.” Even though Isa wasn’t looking forward to more phone calls, at least the first one, the hardest, was out of the way. “Well… Goodbye for now, then.”

“Bye! Have a good day!”

“Thanks.” Isa’s thumb hovered over the end call button. “Eh- you too.” He was sure to say it with a tone of finality to transition into him hanging up. Then he leaned back in his chair as he placed the phone on the table, before sliding a hand through his hair, taking in everything he’d learned.

There was plenty about Kawara Ryuuji that would likely be annoying. He was messy, energetic, and outgoing. But it also seemed that he was kind, understanding, and genuinely wanted to accommodate Isa. That was comforting to know.

Maybe this could work.


	2. Exception

Tohri adjusted the stuffed duffel bag’s strap back onto his shoulder for the umpteenth time that day, grunting under the weight. “Do you really need all this stuff, Kawara?”

Ryuuji turned on his heel further down the hall, nearly falling over backwards from stopping his skipping so suddenly. “Tooohhriii, how many times have you asked me that already? I told you I’d make it up to you!”

The blond grimaced as he made his way after his friend, his burden slowing him to a shuffle. “You haven’t even told me how. It better be something good, if I’m going to ruin my back like this for you.”

“Well, I’m still thinking about it. It’ll definitely be worth it though, I promise!”

“Yeah yeah.”

With a big grin, Ryuuji turned and continued down the hall, his own bags certainly not appearing to hinder his merry way at all. When he stopped again, he managed to retain his balance much more gracefully. He inspected the door he’d stopped by, then turned to face Tohri again, bouncing excitedly. “This is it!”

“Ohthankgoodness.” Tohri managed one last burst of speed to make the homestretch, only making a marginal effort to set it down gently once he arrived at Ryuuji’s side.

With Tohri caught up, Ryuuji tried the door, and it swung open without any need for him to take out his keycard. Which was either cause for concern, or…

“Oh, Isa? You’re already here!”

The brunet Ryuuji assumed to be Isa looked up from his book, a rather thick tome, then placed a bookmark in it and set it aside as he stood up from the bed he was sitting on. “Kawara. Hello.”

Isa held out a hand, and Ryuuji shook it firmly enough that Isa broke his neutral expression just slightly, his brow furrowing and lips tightening. His face quickly reverted to the way it was before as soon as he got his hand back.

“Wow, you look just like how I pictured you!” Ryuuji exclaimed. “Okay, well, maybe not the details. Hard to infer those, you know? But you definitely look like how you talk.”

Isa blinked once, twice. “I suppose.”

Tohri came in then, dragging the duffel bag behind him. Upon noticing Isa, he straightened up, holding out a hand as well. Isa hesitated to take it for a moment longer than he had with Ryuuji, but didn’t have as much of a reaction either, as Tohri’s shake was much more reasonable. “You’re Kawara’s roommate, then? He’s talked about you quite a bit.”

“Yes. And you are…”

Ryuuji chimed in then, “This is my friend Tohri! He’s a year below us, Isa.”

Tohri glanced at Ryuuji, then looked back to Isa, squinting. “You look pretty young, though.”

“I did skip a few years, yes,” Isa nodded.

“Isn’t that impressive, Tohri?” Ryuuji piped up, grunting with strain as he pulled the bag his friend had dragged in up onto the unoccupied bed.

A small pause, then Tohri’s response came measured. “I suppose it is. Well Kawara, if you don’t need anything else from me, I’ll be going now.”

“Nope, it’s all good!” Ryuuji replied, either not noticing Tohri’s sudden change in attitude or not bothering to acknowledge it. “Thanks for all your help.”

“... Yeah.” Tohri turned towards the door, caught a glimpse of Ryuuji pulling an assortment of large and varied rocks out of the bag, and left with many curses under his breath.

After the door closed, Isa slowly set himself back down on his bed. He opted to just stay like that for a bit, watching calmly as Ryuuji pulled out various rocks and turned them over in his hands, occasionally tsking under his breath. It took Isa a moment to realize he was checking for damage on his apparently valuable cargo.

Quickly growing disinterested, Isa was about to return his attention to his book when Ryuuji suddenly turned around. “Hey Isa, what’s your favorite color?”

“And why would you want to know something like that?”

Ryuuji turned to him with such a big, honest, genuine grin that for a split second Isa wondered if he was real. “How am I supposed to call you a good friend if I don’t even know your favorite color?”

Isa’s first instinct was to question him further, say something about how he never agreed to friendship - but he quickly came to the realization that doing so would likely just lead to him getting even more bewildered. Perhaps if he just satisfied Ryuuji’s curiosity, that could be the end of it. It wasn’t as if it was a huge hassle to just say what his favorite color was.

“Red.”

“Ohh, red! What a great choice!” And Ryuuji turned around again.

Isa promptly cracked his book back open. That wasn’t so bad-

“Here, Isa!”

Feeling a groan build up in him, Isa released the tension by exhaling sharply through his nose as he tore his eyes from his book again. He was about to ask what Ryuuji could possibly what then, when he noticed something was being held out to him. It was small, sitting neatly in the palm of Ryuuji’s hand, and smooth, shiny - and red, brilliantly red.

“It’s a carnelian! I want you to have it, as a token of our new friendship!”

Ah. Isa should have seen this coming. Of course there was more to Ryuuji’s question than he had let on. Perhaps Isa would have commented on this so-called friendship being pushed onto him, if he weren’t more concerned with how the gem really was a rather nice gift.

He slowly took it out of Ryuuji’s hand and held it in his own, running his fingers over the gentle surface. “How’d you get this?”

A satisfied grin on his face, Ryuuji leaned back and put his hands on his hips. “Most of my collection is cool stuff I’ve found myself. But sometimes I like to buy neat things online! Just to keep it growing. That one came all the way from Brazil! Cool huh?”

Isa glanced between the stone and the man who had given it to him. “I… How much was it?”

Ryuuji laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that! It’s wasn’t that expensive, really.”

“... Really.”

“Really really. I’m not just saying that, okay? Please don't worry!”

Isa sighed. “Alright then, well, thank you. This…” His voice got a touch quieter. “It’s very nice. I’ll take good care of it.”

“Awesome! We’re gonna be great friends, I know it!”

“... We’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1K WORDS IN TWO MONTHS, I'M SO SORRY. I've been in such a rut, RIP. This chapter isn't even very exciting either, but I do like the writing better I guess? Oh well. I need to start kicking my ass about getting these out faster... Hopefully chapters will start getting longer and more frequent. At the very least they're definitely going to get more exciting as things Develop™.. I hope

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's a short start. I'll aim for a minimum of 1k words per chapter but hopefully I'll get hit with inspiration and longer ones will pop up too! As I said above I've never done a multi-chapter fic so... wish me luck.


End file.
